DofE - Bronze Practice Expedition
by perpetualpathology
Summary: After a recent inspection, the board are breathing down Guy's neck about improving relationships between their major wards, Keller and Darwin, to prevent small but costly mistakes from occurring. For that reason, Guy decides to take Jac, Jonny, Mo, Adele, Jesse, Sacha, Colette, Dom, Arthur and Zosia on several expeditions to force them to spend time and work more closely together.
1. Chapter 1

**Before I begin, I'd just like to thank holbyclover and CArfwedsonFan91 who helped me with ideas for this series of 6 stories a while ago :) And if the ideas are not used in this story, they'll probably be used in one of the other 5 expeditions!**

* * *

The boardroom of Holby City General Hospital was rarely somewhere that you'd want to be. The main function of the room was to host meetings, job interviews or hearings – all of which were events to avoid at all costs. But on one Monday morning, that was clearly different. The skeleton staff of Darwin and Keller were seated around an oval table and there was just one seat left empty. A seat that would soon be filled by the hospital's CEO, Guy Self. Jonny, alongside his on-off partner Jac, Mo, Adele and Jesse were from Darwin whilst Zosia, Colette, Arthur, Dom and Sacha were from the general surgical ward, Keller.

"Do you have any idea what this is all about?" Dom asked his flatmate.

"No. Why would I?" Zosia retorted.

"Yeah, it's not like Guy's your Dad or anything." Dom replied sarcastically.

"It can't be something bad can it?" Arthur asked quietly. "I mean, not with everyone here."

"Stop worrying Diggers, it's probably just going to be about a fundraiser or something like that." Dom stated. The door then swung open, the CEO entered and he sat down at the head of the table.

"Ah, excellent. Everyone's here." He smiled as he placed his black leather portfolio on the table, and his blazer on the back of his chair. "Right, now given the major incident declared last week and the recent inspection, the board has been breathing down my neck about making Holby the most efficient hospital in the South West." He began. "And a number of observing members have noted that many minor errors or delays were made due to a lack of communication and teamwork between the wards. And one of them - who is a good friend of mine and wishes to remain anonymous - was so kind as to offer financial backing for any sort of 'team building' ideas that would benefit the hospital because he understands how hard you're all working."

"Oh god." Jac muttered quietly which caused Jonny and Mo - who were sitting either side of her - to smirk.

"I have, therefore, taken the liberty to train as a leader for the Duke of Edinburgh award programme." Guy announced. "I proposed the idea to the benefactor and he is delighted to know that I'm going to be taking all ten of you on six expeditions: a practice expedition and the assessed expedition for the bronze, silver and gold awards. Where necessary, you will be given time off of work to prepare or recover and most of your travelling and equipment costs will be reimbursed."

"And who's going to treat patients whilst you have us hiking out in the middle of nowhere?" Jac demanded.

"You might not like to hear it Ms Naylor but this hospital can cope without you for a couple of days and Professor Hope can run the ward without you." Guy replied. "Now, I've booked the bronze practice expedition – it's in just over a month's time in the first week of March and seeing as it is only 2 days and 1 night long, it'll take place on a Saturday and Sunday to minimise disruption to the hospital. We'll be following the Mid Worcestershire Ring which is a 21 miles long hiking route–"

"In two days?" Colette protested.

"If you think that's a long way, you wait until you see what I've got planned for the final gold expedition." Guy smirked. "Now, I'll email you all the details but I just thought that it'd be best to tell you all in person."

* * *

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Jac snapped as she and Jonny ascended the stairs back up to Darwin after the meeting.

"Er... I don't know, maybe Guy Self?" Jonny replied humorously. He'd grown up camping in the Scottish Highlands so he couldn't wait for the expedition but he knew his partner was of the reciprocal opinion.

"I don't _care_ if he's Guy bloody Self, it doesn't mean that he can force me to go on some ridiculous camping trip."

"Expedition." Jonny corrected which forced the consultant to pause on the stairs, look down at the nurse and give him her infamously daunting glare which, from a couple of steps up, looked all the more formidable but it didn't faze the Scottish nurse. "Alright, I'm sorry." He apologised. "But I think you're overreacting about this. It's only one night, what's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

 **The Night Before The Expedition**

"Have you guys seen my iPad mini?" Zosia frowned as she entered the living room after she'd searched her bedroom for the device. It was Friday night and the trio had decided to give going out a miss because it was the night before they were leaving for their practice expedition. Instead, their flat was dotted around with clothes, non-perishable food, drinks and equipment as they all packed their hiking bags.

"Yeah, it's on charge in the kitchen where you left it this morning." Dom stated.

"I knew that." She replied slowly as she walked through to unplug her tablet.

"You're not taking that with you, are you?" Arthur asked.

"My iPad? Yeah, why?"

"I just would've thought that you'd leave it here."

"Yeah Zosia, we're going to the countryside to get away from all this technology." Dom said patronisingly.

"You sound just like Colette." She scoffed before she began sorting through a pile of her clean washing to find some clothing suitable for the weekend.

"Just one question: how are you going to manage without sleeping with Jesse for a night?" Dom quipped.

"Who said we're not going to sleep together?" Zosia teased.

"Well for a start, you're staying in a tent with me and Arthur. And secondly, your Dad is going to be a couple of meters away with little more than a thin tent separating you – anyone, including your Dad, will be able to hear." He replied bluntly.

"Like I care what he thinks." She scoffed.

"You really need to make up with your father Zosh, he's trying and tomorrow could be the perfect opportunity for you both to spend some time together." Dom stated.

"Alright, when you and your Dad make up _then_ I'll make up with my Dad."

"That's completely different, he doesn't accept my sexuality and I find that intolerable."

"And not telling me that my mother was dying was?" Zosia protested. "I just want this weekend to go quickly and painlessly." She declared. "It won't be that bad, will it?"

* * *

 **Thank you all for reading, please leave me a review and let me know what you think :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so so so so so much for the reviews for the first chapter from Charlie, CArfwedsonFan91, Fee4444, and the three guests** **:-)**

* * *

It was barely 7am and Jac had just pulled up in the car park of the hospital where there was 16 seat, silver Mercedes minibus with tinted windows and a company driver sitting in the front. The side door was open and in the doorway sat Guy, Jesse and Colette who were awaiting the rest of the team.

"Morning." Jonny smiled as he opened the boot and took out his and Jac's brand new hiking bags and heaved one onto each shoulder. Once she'd been reassured that she wasn't going to get out of the expedition, she'd gone online and ordered all of the latest gear to make the trip as luxurious as possible and Jonny had been pleasantly surprised that she had also ordered kit for him too.

"Good morning." Guy smiled. "It's going to be a nice sunny day by the looks of it."

"Maybe but it's still freezing and it'll be near zero degrees tonight." Colette declared.

"How long do you reckon it'll take to get to the site?" Jonny asked curiously as he closed the boot after Jac had grabbed the two smaller rucksacks containing a few drinks and bits that they were going to leave on the minibus for the night.

"It depends on the traffic really, I'm hoping for it to take just over an hour." Guy replied as he moved out of the way so that the Scotsman could climb onto the minibus and place their hiking bags on shelves above the seats. "Oh, that's surprising. I expected the junior doctors to arrive last." Guy admitted as a silver Seat Ibiza pulled up alongside the cardio consultant's car.

Jesse knew that the only reason Zosia had been up was because he'd spent the night at the junior doctors' flat and he had had to leave early in order to get ready on time for Guy to pick him up and give him a lift. If that hadn't happened, he had no doubt the trio would still be fast asleep and would leave the flat in a blind panic after realising where they were supposed to be.

"I told you we could've stopped at Costa." Dom grumbled as he got out of the driver's seat. "Sacha, Mo and Adele aren't even here yet."

"You can go to Pulses if you wish, you've still got time." Guy stated.

"Ooh, get me a double expresso please." Zosia smiled.

"I'll have a chai latte." Jesse announced.

"I'll have a café latte." Colette stated bluntly.

"Here, put this towards it." Guy added as he took out a ten pound note and handed it over to the stumped junior doctor. "And I'll have a double expresso too."

"Come on, I'll come with you." Zosia sighed dramatically as she followed her flatmate to Wyvern reception.

* * *

"We're walking 12 miles today ladies and gentlemen." Guy announced as everyone stepped off of the minibus into a quiet car park that was surrounded by grassy fields and a small winding lane that they had just come down.

"I barely walk that in a week." Dom scoffed.

"Well then all the more reason to do this award." Guy declared. "It's about getting fit and building trust between us all. Now I'm well aware of the endless capabilities of today's technology and so for that reason, I want everyone to hand in their mobile phones and we're going to be navigating using the good old fashioned maps." He stated as he took out a medium sized, clear plastic container for their devices. "I'm going to split us into two groups, we'll set off on different paths and we'll see which group works together better. So come on, mobile phones please." He ordered politely as he placed his iPhone into the box and everyone else then reluctantly handed over theirs. "Now, as for groups. I want myself, Colette, Jac, Sacha, Mo and Jonny in one team and Adele, Zosia, Dom, Arthur and Jesse in the other."

"And if we don't know how to read a map?" Sacha queried.

"Then you'll have to learn pretty quickly." Guy smiled. "Right, that's all I have to say. So everyone grab your things and then you can set off when you're ready. Remember, the faster that you complete the walking part, the faster you can set up at the campsite and relax."

* * *

"Well on the bright side, at least you're not in the same team as your father." Jesse said as he tried to convince Zosia that all was not bad about the trip since he didn't like seeing her unhappy.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I think that at this point, having him in our time might be useful seeing as no one can read a map." She declared as she attempted to find her way on the map that was folded out to A3 size but could go larger. "For all we know, we could be going in the complete opposite direction that we're supposed to be moving in."

"I still can't believe Digby doesn't know how to read a map." Dom stated.

"Oh back off, at least he tried to help." Adele protested.

"Hang on a minute. Hold that." Zosia ordered as she stopped walking and shoved the map into Jesse's chest before she swung her hiking bag off of her back and onto the floor in front of her.

"What?" Jesse frowned. "Have you got a second phone that Guy didn't collect?" He joked.

"No. But I have got…. This." She smiled as she pulled out her white iPad mini.

"Have you got 4G on it?" Adele asked eagerly.

"Yep." Zosia grinned. "And you two were telling me to leave it at home." She complained to her flatmates as she opened the app for maps and began finding their location.

* * *

"No way man, I am _so_ much better than you! I could set up a tent without even having a tent; I could build one with raw materials." Jonny declared as he and Mo walked alongside each other with the map since Jonny had offered to be in charge of directions.

"Stop talking crap Maconie, you haven't been camping in years." Mo protested as she playfully elbowed him.

"They really are just like teenage best friends aren't they?" Sacha chuckled as he walked alongside Jac a little while behind them.

"He's an idiot but that's what makes Jonny, Jonny." Jac shrugged.

"Not going soft on me Naylor are we?" He asked which was met with nothing but a coy smile. "I'm just joking. He's made you happy and I'm really happy for you."

"You think I'm happy walking in the middle of nowhere for no real purpose?" She protested.

"Oh, I'm sure it's not going to be all bad."

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

"Well I've noticed that on the bottom strap of Jonny's bag is a brand new tent that is too big to be a one man tent, and I noticed that you haven't got a tent at all."

"We're sharing a tent, so what? It doesn't mean that this weekend is going to be enjoyable."

"No but I'm sure it'll making it more tolerable. Just relax, I won't tell him you're in love with him–"

"Leevy! Shut it!" She growled quietly.

"Ah, so you _are_ in love with him. I can tell, you see, because if you weren't you would've just joked about it or made some sarcastic comment."

"Did they put something in your coffee?" She retorted nervously.

"You can deny it all you want Jac, but just remember I know you better than most people here."

* * *

Given the fact that the groups were essentially split into the older adults and the younger ones, the younger group had won by almost half an hour though they would've have done so well without the use of Zosia's iPad. They had set up their tents on their pitch on the campsite and in the middle, a small fire was crackling away. Given the peaceful situation, Dom decided to put his plan to reunite the estranged father and daughter into action by giving Colette and Jesse the go ahead signal so Jesse went over to Zosia, and Colette went over to Guy.

"Oi, go over to the toilets and I'll meet you over there in a minute." Jesse whispered suggestively to the young doctor. They couldn't risk sharing a tent for Guy would probably suss out their relationship so Zosia was suffering in a tent with Arthur and Dom whilst Jesse was stuck in a tent with Guy and Colette.

"Alright then." Zosia smiled as she discreetly leant up and kissed him on the lips before she parted and walked calmly over to the toilet block.

* * *

Meanwhile, Colette entered her tent where Guy was just about to prepare his dinner.

"Guy, Zosh has locked herself in the toilets and she's crying." Colette lied convincingly.

"What?" He asked confusedly.

"She's asking for you. She said something about Anya." She added.

"Right, thanks." Guy said gratefully before he jumped up and jogged over to the toilet block however as soon as he had entered the small cabin, the outwards swinging door was slammed shut and then Jesse and Dom heaved the picnic bench outside, right in front of the door so that it couldn't be opened.

"What're you doing?" Zosia demanded of her father as it appeared that he was involved in organising the situation.

"I thought you were crying." Guy stayed confusedly.

"Do I look like I'm crying?" Zosia snapped before she went over and started banging on the door. "Dom, if this is you I swear I'll-"

"You'll what?" Guy smirked.

"You could at least help, the door is stuck." Zosia stated and so Guy went over and tried too. Only even with both of them pushing, the door didn't budge an inch.

"We're not letting you out until you talk properly to each other, promise to get along and stop acting like a pair of idiots." Jesse shouted after he and Dom had argued in a whisper who was to talk first.

"Jesse this is ridiculous open up now or I'll... Or I'll climb out the window." Zosia stated as she glanced at the frosted window to the side of the door where only the small top window could be opened, not the larger one below it.

"Go for it, but give us a call when you're stuck or you've stopped fighting." Dom laughed before they heard footsteps and Jesse and Dom's voice gradually got quieter and quieter until they could hear them no more. Was being in a confined space really what Guy and Zosia needed to reconcile?

* * *

 **If anyone has any ideas for the other 5 stories, I'm all ears! I've got plans of where they will actually go for the other five but I'm struggling a little with ideas for the characters so if you could help me, I'd be very grateful. Just let me know and I'll happily PM you what I've got so far! Or you could just leave any ideas as a review if you don't have an account :)**


	3. Chapter 3

" _Jesse this is ridiculous open up now or I'll... Or I'll climb out the window." Zosia stated as she glanced at the frosted window to the side of the door where only the small top window could be opened, not the larger one below it._

 _"Go for it, but give us a call when you're stuck or you've stopped fighting." Dom laughed before they heard footsteps and Jesse and Dom's voice gradually got quieter and quieter until they could hear them no more. Was being in a confined space really what Guy and Zosia needed to reconcile?_

"You're not seriously going to try and climb out of the window are you?" Guy moaned as he watched his daughter turn the large bin for paper towels which was almost empty, upside down, climbed onto it and then opened the window at the top. "Zosia, I am by no means commenting about your weight, but you won't fit through there." Guy stated exasperatedly. And after a few more minutes of trying, Guy just rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. But he watched as the bin that she was stood on was at an angle where her weight was tipping the plastic object. Moments later, she was about to get down when the bin tipped over and Zosia's heart was in her mouth until she realised that she had fallen into her father's arms with a thump and he then put her down on her own two feet. "Do I need to say I told you so?" He quipped.

"You just did." Zosia huffed and they fell into an awkward silence for a little while until Guy spoke up.

"Your friends obviously care about you Zosh."

"If they care about me, they wouldn't have locked me in here with you." She growled.

"Well Jesse has a point Zosia. We are being idiots. Come on, your mother would want us to be getting on, loving each other and behaving like father and daughter." He pleaded. "Wouldn't she?"

"I've got to be honest, I don't know what mama would want anymore. Given the fact that she didn't tell me she was dying because she thought it would be the best for me, I don't think she knew meat all because if she did, she'd have known that I'd rather work in McDonalds for the rest of my life and give up my studies to spend all the time I could with her."

"Oh Zoshie-"

"Don't call me that." She snapped.

"Zosia of course you and your mother knew each other – you had the closest relationship with your mother. You won't understand this until you have kids of your own, but your mother made the decision to refuse treatment because she did what was best for all of us, including you as well as herself. Even if she'd had had the treatment, there's no saying that it would've worked, nor that if it had worked that her cancer wouldn't come back." Guy stated whilst his daughter went and sat on the wooden bench that was just outside of the showers.

"But I don't understand. Why didn't she tell me? She must've known that her time was coming, why didn't she ask me to come home? Why didn't _you_ call me and tell me what was going on?"

"Because your mother asked me to honour her last wishes Zosia, I couldn't let her down." Guy stated. "She didn't tell you because she didn't want to fight again Zosia, you know how ill she got with chemo and radiotherapy last time, she just didn't have the energy to fight again and she didn't want you to see her giving up."

"I miss her so much." Zosia sobbed before she hung her head in her hands.

"So do I Zosia." Guy said softly as he knelt down so that he was just below the height of her head. "Come on, let's stop being idiots eh?" He suggested and Zosia gave a small nod before they both stood up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and Guy wrapped his arms around her back.

"Przykro mi (I'm sorry)." She croaked. "Byłam okropna córka. (I've been a horrible daughter)."

"Nie, już została córka żałoby. (No, you've been a grieving daughter.)" Guy corrected. "Now come on, dry those tears so that we can both shout at Jesse to let us out of here." He smiled as he pulled apart and Zosia let out a soft laugh before she stood up and looked in the mirror by the sink to sort her red eyes out.

* * *

"Where's Jac?" Mo asked as she, along with everyone else on the trip had been sitting around a fire but it had taken Mo a little while to realise that the auburn haired consultant was in fact the only one absent.

"Oh, she went for a quick shower a little while ago to freshen up." Jonny informed his best friend. It was relatively dark but the large fire in the centre of the ring was keeping their faces illuminated.

"How's she liking the great outdoors?"

"She's absolutely hating it." Jonny smirked. "The bugs, the lack of electricity, the preserved food..." He listed.

"The gossip." Jac chipped in and Jonny slowly twisted his neck around to see his partner standing in a clean hoodie and pair of leggings with her hair tied up in a tight bun that'd been used to keep her hair dry and she had a toiletry bag and damp towel in one hand.

"Well it's not as if you're enjoying this trip, is it?" He joked. He was just glad that he hadn't been caught saying something more sinister.

"Well no but… Oh will you sod off!" She moaned as she swatted away a buzzing insect, hovering around her.

"My point exactly." He chuckled.

"Do you _want_ to sleep outside tonight?" She hissed quietly before she stormed off to her and Jonny's tent.

"What's got her knickers in a twist?" Mo frowned.

"She seriously hates being this trip and away from work and everyone else– well mainly myself – have been mocking her since we left Holby." Jonny stated solemnly. "I can't leave it like that between us though." Jonny admitted as he rose to his feet and went over to their tent where he found her packing her worn clothes away in her bag with a small LED lamp turned on so that she could find her way around the tent. "I'm sorry, for taking the mick out of you all day today." Jonny apologised as he knelt down next to her. "I know you really don't want to be here." He said softly as he placed a hand on her back.

"I really don't see the point in this." She exclaimed exhaustedly. "What's the point in having 10 medical professionals plus Adele out in the middle of nowhere when some of us could be saving lives?" She half-heartedly joked which caused Jonny to chuckle.

"I suppose Guy believes that if we all get to know each other better then we'll work together better and more efficiently." He shrugged. "Why don't you just focus on the fitness side of things eh? You're always saying I don't exercise enough." He smirked. "I never thought it'd feel good to say that I walked 12 miles in a day."

"Or you just never thought you'd say it at all." She quipped.

"Come on, it's getting late and we'll need our energy for tomorrow so we should hit the sack." Jonny smiled as he pulled back the top half of the sleeping bag but Jac then tried to hide a small smile.

"You zipped them together." She concluded.

"Yeah, come on. We'll keep each other warm." He said as he laid down near one edge, on his side, and held it open whilst Jac laid down on her side in front of him, both of them facing in the same direction so that he could lean over her, zip the sleeping bags together and then he relaxed with his muscular arms around her small frame.

* * *

A little while later, most of the group had also called it a night but Zosia and Guy remained outside around the fire which had burnt down to a pile of glowering embers.

"What're the teams going to be tomorrow?" Zosia asked curiously. "Are we going to be in the same groups again?"

"Um… I'm not sure. Why?"

"Can we be in the same team tomorrow?"

"Yeah of course we can. But why?" He chuckled.

"Because everyone in my team was useless at navigating."

"But your team came first." He frowned.

"I know, but I used 3G on my iPad but now it's ran out of charge." She admitted.

"You cheated?!" He laughed. "Sure, you can walk with me. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten what tomorrow is."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She smiled innocently. But both of them knew that the next day would, of course, be her birthday.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Jonny awoke to a familiar and annoying alarm – Jac's iPhone. She always got up earlier than he did whether they had work or not, but it still woke him up. Usually, she'd turn the alarm off within seconds but when it continued ringing, he rolled over to find that he had been lying in the tent alone. He frowned as he leant over to take her phone and slide his finger across the screen to turn the wretched thing off.

"5:30am?" He groaned quietly as he sat up. He then saw her towel folded up in the corner of the tent so she hadn't gone for a shower. But after that deduction, he noticed a white box on the top of her hiking bag. He reached forward and picked it up so that he could read it: Diclofenac Potassium. It was her medication for endometriosis and the woman was out of bed in the early hours of the morning so clearly she was suffering – a situation he hated because he knew she was uncannily good at hiding pain and he never truly knew how unwell she really was feeling. He slipped on a pair of shoes and exited the tent on a mission to find the woman that meant so much to him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jac had been getting some air in the forest besides the camping site not far away from their pitch. Lying on the cold, hard ground was terribly uncomfortable so she'd gotten up after many failed attempts at falling asleep and gone for a slow walk. She was just about to head back when she heard the Scotsman's voice.

"Jac?" Her heart skipped a beat as she heard him shout because tents were only thin and with his deep voice, he'd most likely woken up everyone else on the campsite. "Jac?" He repeated and she looked through a gap in the trunks of the last few trees on the edge of the forest to see that he was looking around frantically – the trees hid her well and he hadn't seen her at all so she quickly walked over to him before anyone else was awoken.

"Will you shut up?" She hissed. "You're going to wake everyone else up."

"Well what else do you want me to do?" He frowned. "I woke up, you were gone and there was nothing but your box of meds on the top of your bag." He stated. "How long have you been up?" He asked.

"Not long."

"How long?" He repeated firmly.

"I don't know… Half an hour, maybe." She shrugged.

"Right. Come on, come with me and I'll make us porridge for breakfast." He smiled as he put his arm around her waist. They had planned their meals before they'd embarked on the expedition so Jac knew that they had porridge which would give them lots of energy for the day. "It'll get something hot inside of you and it might help with the pain a wee bit." He said softly as they began to walk back to their tent.

"I don't need you to look after me." Jac said simply but she walked with him nonetheless.

"No but I _want_ to look after you." Jonny stated.

* * *

Zosia slowly awoke to the sound of quiet chattering, a crackling fire and the chirping of birds. She smiled as she rolled over in her sleeping bag onto her side but instead of finding her two flat – or rather tent – mates, she found a small gift bag with a card tucked in the top of it. She unzipped her sleeping bag slightly, sat up and opened the birthday card signed by her father, Jesse, Colette, Arthur and Dom. _'To prevent you from having to carry any unnecessary weight, we've left your presents at home and we'll celebrate properly tonight.'_ Was the main message in the centre of the card. Inside of the gift bag was a bottle of pomegranate, blueberry and acai smoothie – her favourite – as well as a little Smarties gift cake in a box, a bag of walnuts and some watermelon sweets from Poland that reminded her of their holidays to her mother's homeland every year in the summer when she was younger.

She rose to her feet and smoothed her hair out before she exited the tent in the leggings and hoodie that she'd slept in to find most people sitting around the fire pit, which wasn't lit, but Guy was cooking on his trangia.

"Ah, good morning. Happy birthday sweetheart." He smiled.

"Thanks." She smiled embarrassedly.

"I'm just making you a bacon roll and we'll set off in about twenty minutes or so, okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"Oh, Jonny." Guy said as he watched the nurse, followed by his partner, exited their tent with both of their fully packed hiking bags in his hands. "What was going on this morning?"

"What do you mean?" Jonny frowned.

"Well I woke up at half five to a Scotsman shouting Jac's name and as far as I know, you're the only Scotsman here." He explained and the cardio consultant then looked down at the ground.

"Oh I woke up in the morning and Jac wasn't there. Turns out I was worrying over nothing because she was just going to the loo." Jonny explained.

"Right…" Guy frowned and Jonny's heart rate increased as he knew the CEO hadn't bought his story and he knew if the truth came out that Jac would be mortified.

"She had a headache last night, I was worried it'd gotten worse." Jonny added for further explanation and Guy then appeared to accept the story.

"Oh, I see." He smiled. "But you're feeling better now, yes Jac?"

"I'm fine." Jac replied simply.

"Right, since everyone's here I suppose we'd better sort out the teams that we'll be walking in today." Guy stated. "I'd like Sacha, Jesse, Adele, Dom and Colette in one team, which leaves Zosia, Arthur, Mo, Jac, Jonny and myself in the second team. And mobile phones _and_ tablets will need to be handed in again." He added sternly. Soon, everyone began having conversations in their own little groups again and Jonny turned his attention to his partner who – to everyone else – looked no different from usual, but he could tell from the look in her eyes that she was in pain; she was just incredibly good at hiding it.

"Here." Jonny said as he laid his hiking bag down on the ground. "You sit down on this while I take the tent down." He said softly.

"You alright?" Sacha asked as he had heard the conversation and it appeared that he was speaking to her as though she was unwell and needed looking after.

"She's just got a bit of a bad back from sleeping on the ground. You couldn't give me a hand taking our tent down could you?"

"Yeah sure."

As the two men walked behind Jac and began dismantling the tent, she couldn't help but smile to herself. Not only was Sacha a very good friend and obviously cared about her, but Jonny was so considerate and thoughtful about the fact that she wanted to keep her suffering between the two of them. Quite frankly, she wanted to just keep it to herself but with Jonny, a man who was so emotionally involved with her, it was difficult to keep secrets from him simply because he noticed any change no matter how big or small it was. She was lucky to have him on her side.


	5. Chapter 5

**Just for future reference for this chapter, Jac and Jonny don't have Emma but Paula did come back to Holby and she died on Darwin.**

 **Just in case you missed it, I uploaded a chapter later than usual yesterday and this is the last chapter of this story.** **Also, I just want to say a huge thank you to all the reviews on this story and I hope you have the final bronze expedition up soon :)**

* * *

"What's happening for the final Bronze expedition?" Zosia asked curiously as she walked alongside her father on a dirt path along a river, occasionally nibbling at the watermelon sweets that she had in her pocket.

"What do you mean? Where're we going?"

"Yeah, and when is it going to be?"

"Well we're going to follow the Avon Valley trail in the New Forest. It's 34 miles long, about one hour and forty-five minutes away by minibus and it'll probably be in about 5 or 6 weeks' time." He explained.

"We're going to walk 34 miles in two days?" She protested.

"I know, it'll be tough but you've got time to prepare for it. By this afternoon, we will have covered 21 miles and we started walking relatively late yesterday morning, finished by early evening and today we'll have finished by early afternoon so it's not as if it will be a huge step up. You just need to make sure that you pack lightly, bring the right sorts and amounts of food and you don't get lost and end up walking further than you have to." He explained.

"Did you hear that?" Jac whispered as she and Jonny walked a couple of meters behind the CEO and F1 whilst Arthur and Mo were walking slightly ahead with the map out in front of the pair of them. "He wants us to walk 34 miles." She scoffed.

"Yeah well at least if it's in 5 or 6 weeks' time, you won't be requiring horse-strength painkillers." He quipped. "How're you feeling?" He asked quietly.

"Fine."

"And now I want an honest answer." He prompted but as Jac began to stutter, her response was interrupted by Mo's voice.

"Well that wasn't on the map!" She shouted and Jonny then looked ahead to see that there was a wide stream, across which were hexagonal stepping stones and by the looks of things there were around two dozen of them.

"What do you mean it wasn't on the map, it's a pretty big river Mo." Jonny laughed.

"No, the river _is_ on there but I thought there'd be a bridge here." She explained.

"I er, I think we should further along and try to find a bridge." Arthur stuttered.

"Nonsense Digby, we should walk across. I'm sure it's perfectly safe." Guy declared.

"I'm not going across that." Jac declared.

"Why?" Jonny laughed but as he turned to face her, he saw a true look of fear in her eyes. "What is it…? Oh, can you not swim?" He asked curiously, and he expected a sarcastic raise of her eyebrows in reply but he was astounded to find that she didn't immediately respond with a bold, sarcastic comment – she actually couldn't swim. "You can't, can you?" He concluded softly.

"Can you really see Paula taking me to swimming lessons when I was younger?" She said very seriously, yet quietly.

"No, I suppose not." He forced a smile but whilst they'd been talking, Zosia and Guy had already gone across and Arthur was on his way across the stepping stones. "Here, give me your bag. Then it'll just be like walking on steps and you won't have to worry about having something heavy on your back." He said kindly and he was surprised to see that she actually undid the chest and hip straps on her hiking bag and she heaved it over to him.

"You alright?" Mo asked.

"Yeah, she's just got the sense of balance as a baby deer so I'm taking this for her in case she falls in." Jonny quipped as the registrar began hopping along the stones. "Do you want me to go first or do you want to go?" He asked.

"I'll go." She replied after taking a deep breath.

"Alright. But don't be nervous, you won't fall in and I'm sure it's not that deep anyway." He said reassuringly.

* * *

"So when're you going to stop deceiving your best friend and end it with Zosia?" Colette asked as she walked alongside Jesse with Dom shortly behind them and Sacha and Adele walking up front with the map in their hands.

"I'm not deceiving Guy." He protested. "It's just a casual thing, it's nothing serious and he doesn't need to know about it."

" _You_ think that it's nothing serious but Zosia's more naïve than you think." She warned.

"No she's not. And besides, it's not as if we're actually related is it? There's nothing wrong with what we're doing."

"Jesse if Guy finds out, he'll go mad and I don't know what he'd do if he found out that practically everyone else knows that his best friend is sleeping with his daughter."

"He won't find out."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure." Dom said smugly.

"You wouldn't tell her." He protested. "Come on, we're both happy."

"For now." Dom replied simply. "But if you harm one hair on her head–"

"I won't. I'd never hurt Zosia."

"Good thing really. But if you do… you'll regret it." Dom sung before he walked with a spring in his step to catch up with Sacha and Adele.

* * *

By evening, everyone had returned back to Holby but some were in better shape than others…

"Thank you for doing this." Jonny groaned with pleasure as he sat in just a pair of shorts on a stool at the breakfast bar in Jac's flat whilst she rubbed some deep heat gel into his shoulders and the backs of his muscular arms.

"You see, it's really not that hard to give a massage without making the person feel like there's a bulldozer rolling over their back." She quipped. "Right, you're all done." Jac announced as she placed the tube on the counter. "And if you're in this much pain after walking 21 miles and the final bronze expedition is 34 miles then I'd love to see what you're going to be like after the final gold expedition." She added as she washed her hands in the sink.

"You're probably in just as much pain as I am, you're just hiding it better." Jonny protested. "Right, what do you say to ordering a takeaway and a bottle of wine?" He suggested.

"No. No wine." She replied simply.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot about the painkillers." He concluded. "Alright then, just a takeaway. And I'll let you choose what we have. And then you can have a scalding hot shower, just the way you like them, whilst I clear up after."

"But your definition of 'clearing up' means throwing everything in the bin or the washing up bowl." She protested.

"No it doesn't. Come on, you choose what you want and then I'll order it."

* * *

The next day, Monday, everyone was back at work but since they hadn't celebrated Zosia's birthday properly on the day they were all throwing a party in Albi's after their shifts and Guy was picking up the tab on the bar. Zosia, who was wearing a pink ' _Birthday Girl!'_ sash, had been watching her father play darts against one of the other neurosurgeons when Jesse came and sat on a bar stool next to her.

"There you are, I was beginning to think that you weren't coming." She smiled.

"I'm not staying, I've got somethings to do. I just came to say that, we can't do this anymore, you and I, I mean."

"What?" She frowned.

"Zosh, I'm sorry. It's been fun but I just can't keep doing this to your Dad."

"But he's not going to find out, it doesn't matter." Zosia protested.

"No but I can't live under the constant fear that he _could_ find out."

"Who could find out what?" Guy asked curiously as he returned to the bar to grab another drink.

"Er…"

"No one." Zosia smiled reassuringly. "Listen, I've got a clinical skills assessment tomorrow so I'd better get off and have an early night." She explained quickly as she grabbed her bag.

"What? You can't go before we cut the… cake." He frowned as his daughter had already left the public house. "What's the matter with her?"

"Er I _think_ she said she had a bit of a headache coming on." Jesse improvised. "Come on, we should have a pint; we haven't had one together in ages."

"Agreed. Excuse me barman, two pints please." Guy and Jesse then sat together at the bar, but whilst they eased themselves into a conversation Zosia was making her way back to the flat in a distressed state that the man that she had hoped loved her, really was happy with just a casual relationship as he had said before. How could they possibly manage to work together on Keller? And how would they cope with each other on the upcoming DofE expeditions?


End file.
